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Volume 28, No. 1 1
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
North Carolina Criminal Justice Analysis Center Governor’s Crime Commission
Volume 28, No. 1
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
A Division of the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
SystemStats
Introduction
The perception of juvenile crime is often based on
news reports and typically does not become a topic
of concern to the public until a serious juvenile crime
makes headline news. Yanich noted that the vast
majority of juvenile crime reporting occurs locally on
local television news and in local newspapers (2005).
While juvenile delinquency is a constant concern
to the public and to correctional officials, to obtain
an accurate picture of juvenile offenses and where
offenses occur, it is necessary to look at the range of
offenses as reported by all agencies involved in the
reporting of juvenile crime.
A wide variety of factors should be included in any
evaluation of juvenile offenses. In an effort to gain
more insight into the type of offenses committed by
juveniles and where offenses take place, data was
requested from the N.C. Department of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the State Bureau
of Investigation and the North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction. This report initially began as
an examination of complaints issued against juveniles
and the time and location of the complaints. To
obtain more insight, additional information was
collected on potential factors that may or may not
impact juveniles, including school suspension rates,
dropout rates, age, race, gender and types of offenses
committed. Information was studied to obtain a
better perspective of juvenile offenses and to gain a
more accurate perception of the problem of juvenile
delinquency.
By standard definition — and in most states — a
person under the age of 18 is treated as a juvenile,
unless the offense committed merits transfer to adult
court. In North Carolina an individual between the
ages of six and 15 is treated as a juvenile. Juvenile
offenders come under the jurisdiction of the N.C.
Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention and the juvenile court system while
individuals age 16 and older are treated as adults in
the criminal justice system. Youth under the age of
16 who commit serious offenses may be waived or
transferred out of the juvenile system to be treated or
tried as an adult. North Carolina and New York are
currently the only states that consider youth aged 16
and 17 as adults in the criminal justice system. The
Vera Institute of Justice has conducted a cost-benefit
analysis of the feasibility and impact of raising the age
of juvenile jurisdiction to 18 in North Carolina. Their
research indicates that the overall benefits of raising
the juvenile age outweigh the costs (Henrichson &
Levshin, 2011).
Information for this report was obtained from the
Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention’s N.C. Juvenile Offender Information
Network (NC JOIN) and the State Bureau of
Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program
(UCR). The NC JOIN program collects information
on complaints filed against juveniles while the UCR
program gathers data on arrests. It should be noted
that NC JOIN data provides the total number of
complaints filed against an individual, not the total
2 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
number of juveniles offending, while UCR data
represents the number of arrests, not the number of
individual juveniles arrested. Juveniles may have
more than one complaint filed against them in the
NC JOIN system based on a single incident. For
example, a single traffic stop can result in multiple
complaints for driving with an expired tag, assault
on a government employee, driving while impaired,
possession of a controlled substance and resisting a
public officer. If an individual is arrested for armed
robbery, this individual may have also committed
an aggravated assault, breaking and entering or
trespassing; however, in the UCR system, only
the most serious offense would be reported on the
arrest report. Because of the differences in the data
collected and the reporting methodology used, NC
JOIN data and UCR data are not comparable.
Uniform Crime Report: UCR
The Uniform Crime Reporting program is a voluntary
effort to collect nationwide data on crime based
on information submitted to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation by law enforcement agencies across
the country. Information is collected on known
offenses and persons arrested by law enforcement
agencies. The UCR program includes only crimes
reported to participating law enforcement agencies.
The data obtained are based on the count, or score,
of reported offenses or arrests. A ‘hierarchy rule’
is used in UCR reporting to indicate and report
only the most serious offense in the crime reporting
process. There are some exceptions to this rule, such
as homicide, forcible rape or aggravated assault,
when each victim is counted as an offense. Also,
in motor vehicle theft each vehicle stolen is scored
as a separate offense. Arson may also be counted
more than once if more than one individual or
multiple buildings are involved. Aside from these
exceptions, when an offender commits multiple
offenses in a single incident, only the most serious
of those offenses will be reported. The UCR report
categorizes offenses according to violent and serious
property crime and all other crimes ( Part I and Part
II offenses). Information on the offense is collected
for murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible
rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft,
motor vehicle theft, and arson — offenses that
are serious crimes by nature and/or volume. Arrest
information is collected on all offenses.1
North Carolina Juvenile Online Information
Network: NC JOIN
The N.C. Juvenile Online Information Network, or
NC JOIN, is a Web-based system that allows DJJDP
staff at various points in the state’s juvenile justice
system to track the progress and placement of youth
being served by various programs and facilities.
The greater part of the information in the NC JOIN
system is entered by court counselors as complaints
against juveniles. Staff at youth development centers
and detention centers may also enter information
while juveniles are under their supervision. While
UCR data counts only one arrest per offender,
except in those cases indicated previously, NC-JOIN
information may include multiple offenses for a
single offender. Another significant difference is that
complaints are listed as offenses according to N.C.
General Statutes and are not classified in the same
manner as UCR offenses.
NC JOIN places crucial information at the fingertips
of court counselors, detention and youth development
center staff throughout the state. Future plans
include expanding appropriate access to community
Volume 28, No. 1 3
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
prevention and intervention programs funded through
local Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils in each of
the 100 counties. NC JOIN is also an asset to those
who plan and evaluate programs and services. It
has become an essential tool in providing the data
necessary in making decisions on the appropriate
use of limited resources to help fund and direct
services for youth involved in crime and in both
prevention and intervention efforts at the state and
local levels.2
Population Trends
Between 2000 and 2009, the total population of North
Carolina increased by 16 percent, from 8,079,152 to
9,397,548. The juvenile population under the age
of 18 has grown from 1,972,789 to 2,243,403, an
increase of 14 percent from 2000 to 2009. Juveniles
under the age of 18 accounted for 24 percent of
the total population of North Carolina in 2009
according to State Office of Budget and Management
projections, while juveniles aged 6 to 15, the ages
covered in this report, make up 12 percent of the total
state population. This proportion has remained steady
since the 2000 census. The portion of the population
aged five to 17 years account for 1,610,024 of the total
population in 2009. This segment has increased by
13 percent from 2000, but the growth of this group
has slowed since that time.3
Dropout Events, Suspensions and Expulsions
from School
According to information in the Department of Public
Instruction’s annual Report to the Joint Legislative
Education Oversight Committee Consolidated Data
Report for 2007-2008, high schools in North Carolina
reported a drop out rate of 4.97%, a decrease from
the 2006-2007 school year’s rate of 5.24%. During
the 2007-2008 academic year 22,434 students in
grades 9-12 dropped out of school. The predominant
reasons given included attendance (which accounted
Figure 1: 2008 Comparison of North Carolina Population Aged 6-15
Total Population,Complaints in NC JOIN and UCR Arrests
4 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
for almost half of all dropouts), enrollment in a
community college program, moved − school status
unknown, academic problems, long term suspension
and discipline problems.4
There were 308,107 short-term (10 days or less)
suspensions and 5,225 long term suspensions (11
days or more) reported statewide in 2007-2008. For
high school students, the short-term suspension rate
was 3.46 suspensions for every 10 students. Black
students received the most short-term suspensions,
followed by white students. Male students also
received more suspensions than female students.
Ninth graders received the largest number of short-term
suspensions out of those enrolled in grades
9-12. Complete demographic data are not available
for students who received long-term suspensions.
Long term suspensions averaged 41.4 school days
per suspension, a significant decrease from previous
years. It was noted in the report that the decrease
in long-term suspensions may be attributable to the
increased use of alternative learning
programs for those suspensions.
Note: the numbers presented are a
count of suspensions and not a count
of individual students.
One-hundred sixteen students were
expelled from schools across the
state in 2007-2008. The majority
of those expelled were male. Ninth
grade students accounted for 43 (37
percent) of the 116 expulsions and
students receiving special education
services made up 11 percent (13
students) of all students expelled.
Among ethnic groups, black students
made up the larger group of expelled students,
followed by white students. Students expelled from
a school are not allowed to return to the district,
but may be served in alternative learning programs,
apply for admission to another district or apply for
readmission to the district.
General Summary of Offenses Reported Through
NC JOIN
Misdemeanors make up the greatest proportion of
offenses committed by juveniles. They account for
69 percent of offenses reported. Felony offenses
account for 19 percent and status offenses (offenses
related specifically to juveniles) make up the
remaining 12 percent of complaints.
A preliminary look at complaints filed on juveniles
indicated the predominant offense reported was
simple assault which accounted for 10 percent of all
offenses reported. Simple assault is defined as an
assault in which there is no intention to do any other
injury or bodily harm5, as opposed to aggravated
assault where there is a specific intent to do bodily
harm. The average age at the time the simple assault
complaint was filed was 13.5 years while the age
range of offenders varied from 6 to 16. Juveniles
aged 15 and 16 years of age accounted for 60 percent
(2,629) of all simple assault complaints filed and
13 and 14 year olds accounted for an additional 30
percent (1,321) of the remaining complaints. The
remaining 10 percent (429) were committed by
juveniles aged 6 to 11.
The second most commonly reported complaint was
Misdemeanor Larceny. Misdemeanor Larceny is
Figure 2: Complaints by Broad Offense Class, 2008 NC JOIN Data
Volume 28, No. 1 5
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
generally defined as larceny of goods with a value less
than $1,000. Shoplifting and other various larceny
offenses are not included in this category. Again, the
most common juvenile offenders were aged 15 and
16. Fifteen year olds accounted for 40 percent and
14 year olds accounted for 29 percent of complaints
filed, a total of 69 percent (2,277) for both ages
combined. Thirteen and 14 year olds made up 24
percent (795) of complaints filed, while youth aged
6 to 11 accounted for 6 percent (184). A total of 829
complaints were filed for shoplifting. Fifteen year
olds committed 42 percent (348) of those offenses
reported, while 14 year olds were responsible for
29 percent (238) and 13 year olds 16 percent (130)
of complaints. Only 14 youth were charged with
a second and third offense within five years of the
first charge. Shoplifting ranked 16th on the list of all
complaints filed.
Simple affray, defined as “a fight between two or
more persons in a public place so as to cause terror to
the people”6 is the third most common complaint filed
in the NC JOIN system. A total of 1,825 complaints
were filed for youth aged 6 to 15 in 2008. Only four
complaints were reported for students aged 6 to
9. Following the same pattern, 15 year olds again
accounted for the largest portion of complaints filed,
44 percent (809) and 14 year olds accounted for 32
percent (585) of all complaints. Complaints filed on
13 year olds made up 256, or 14 percent, of simple
affray complaints.
Other significant complaints included felonious
breaking and entering, injury to real property,
disorderly conduct at school, communicating threats,
ungovernable under the age of 16, larceny after
breaking or entering and truant under the age of 16.
Assault Related Complaints
Simple assault, simple affray and disorderly conduct
at school complaints, which are classified as Class 2
Misdemeanors, account for 18 percent of all offenses
reported in the NC JOIN system in 2008. Under the
UCR reporting system, which reports actual arrests,
Other Assaults – Not Aggravated made up 21 percent
of total arrests. Aggravated Assaults accounted for
only two percent of all arrests. Violent crime, which
includes Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter,
Forcible Rape, Robbery and Assault-Aggravated,
Figure 3: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints by Offense Class and Category
6 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
made up four percent (121 arrests during 2008) of
all arrests for juveniles aged 15 and under.
Status Offenses
Status offenses are classified as offenses related
specifically to juveniles — offenses that would not
be considered an offense if committed by an adult,
such as truancy or running away. The majority of
status offenses committed fell under the classification
of Ungovernable. Ungovernable refers to youth or
children that do not submit to the control or authority
of parents or other authority figures. In 2008, 1,325
youth were reported as just ungovernable and under
the age of 16, covering youth from a minimum age of
7 to a maximum age of 17 (no criteria were submitted
to explain this outlier). A total of 2,629 youth were
reported as ungovernable in combination with other
status offenses such as run away or truant. Table 1,
below, provides totals for the number of complaints
reported as Status Offenses. According to UCR
Figure 4: 2008 NC JOIN Breakout of Status
Complaints by Type
Reported Status Offense Number of Complaints
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile, Run Away and Truant < 16 11
Ungovernable, Run Away and Truant < 16 39
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Truant < 16 8
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away >= 16 10
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away < 16 10
Ungovernable and Truant < 16 253
Ungovernable and Run Away >= 16 215
Ungovernable and Run Away < 16 266
Ungovernable and Found in places unlawful for Juvenile >= 16 4
Ungovernable and Found in places unlawful for Juvenile < 16 9
Ungovernable >= 16 479
Ungovernable < 16 1,325
Truant < 16 1,210
Run Away from within North Carolina >= 16 463
Run Away from within North Carolina < 16 548
Run Away from outside North Carolina >= 16 59
Run Away from outside North Carolina < 16 49
Run Away and Truant < 16 39
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Truant < 16 1
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away >= 16 18
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away < 16 11
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile < 16 2
Table 1: Juvenile Complaints by Reported Status Offense
Volume 28, No. 1 7
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
records, 841 juveniles (4%) under the age of 15 were
arrested as runaways in 2008.
Other Offense Categories
Motor vehicle related complaints, ranging from
‘exceeding the posted speed limit’ to ‘failure to burn
head lamps,’ accounted for only 3 percent of offenses
reported in NC JOIN. The primary offenses reported
were driving without a license and unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle. Drug related offenses accounted
for 7 percent of offenses. These included simple
possession (2%), possession of drug paraphernalia
(1%) and possession of marijuana up to one-half
ounce (1%). All other drug-related offenses, ranging
from possession of fortified wine or liquor to loitering
for drug sales averaged below one percent of total
offenses. During 2008, UCR reports indicate that
14% (2,723) of arrests of juveniles aged 15 were
for Drunk and Disorderly Conduct. An additional
49 juveniles in the age category were arrested for
Driving under the Influence and 240 were arrested
for violating liquor laws.
Location where offenses are committed
School-related complaints accounted for 41 percent
of complaints reported, while 59 percent were
listed as not school related. Data indicate that 38.7
percent of offenses took place on school grounds or
property. Two percent of complaints were related
to school buses or school bus stops. Offenses
occurring in residences made up a significant portion
Figure 5: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints by Location
* Other than home school, preschool, daycare of YDC.
** The remaining 29 locations included in ‘All Other Locations’ each accounted for less than 1% of total complaints
filed.
8 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
of complaints. Residences were broken out as the
home of the victim (16.7 % or 7,265), the home of the
juvenile (12.2% or 5,315) and other residences (3.9%
or 1,682). Highways/Roads/Alleys/Streets made up
7.6 percent and department or discount stores made
up an additional 4.7 percent of locations reported.
School Related
Simple Assault, Simple Affray and Disorderly
Conduct at School complaints made up 32 percent
of school related offenses reported through NC
JOIN in 2008. Fifty-five percent of all Simple
Assault complaints and 89 percent of Simple Affray
complaints are school related. Of 1,530 complaints
filed for Disorderly Conduct at School, only three
were reported as not school related. Other offenses
that were reported at significant levels included Truant
and Under Age 16 (7%), Misdemeanor Weapons on
Educational Property (6%), Misdemeanor Larceny
(6%), Communicating Threats (5%), Assault on
a Government Official or Employee (4%) and
Simple Possession of a Schedule VI Controlled
Substance (3%). Misdemeanor Larceny was the
most predominant offense reported as not related
to school, totaling 9 percent of all complaints that
were not related to school. Simple Assault made
up 8 percent of complaints, followed by Felonious
Breaking and Entering (6%), Injury to Real Property
(5%), Ungovernable Under the Age of 16 (5%) and
Larceny After Breaking or Entering (4%). A total
of 17,388 (41%) complaints covering 222 separate
offenses were school-related, compared to 25,836
(59%) complaints for 390 separate offenses that were
not school-related.
Day of Week/Time of Day of Offenses
2008 NC JOIN data shows that 82 percent of
complaints are filed Monday through Friday, while
18 percent are filed on Saturday and Sunday. School-related
complaints account for 38 percent of all
complaints filed. During the week 41 percent of all
offenses are school related, 15 percent occur at the
Figure 7: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints Day of Week and Time of Day
Figure 6: 2008 NC JOIN School Related
Complaints
Volume 28, No. 1 9
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
residence of the victim and 12 percent occur at the
residence of the juvenile. On weekends, activity
shifts from the school to homes. Forty-seven percent
of complaints occur in residences: 26 percent occur
at the home of the victim, 14 percent at the home of
the juvenile and 7 percent at other residences. Eleven
percent of complaints occur on highways or streets
and 10 percent in department/discount stores.
According to the complaints reported in the NC JOIN
system, the majority of complaints are filed between
Monday and Friday. Overall, the greatest number
of complaints are filed on Tuesdays and Fridays and
take place on School/College Grounds or Property.
On weekends, more complaints were reported on
Saturday than Sunday. The majority of weekend
complaints shift from school-related to residences,
and are reported as occurring either in the home of
the victim or the home of the juvenile. Additional
weekend complaints also occur on highways/road/
alleys or streets. Department and discount stores
report the highest number of complaints occurring
on Saturdays.
Research has shown that juvenile crime varies
according to the time of day and the day of the
week. Gottfredson and Soulé’s analysis confirmed
that juvenile serious violent crime peaked between 2
p.m. and 6 p.m. on school days, the hours just after
schools is dismissed, whereas adult serious violent
crime peaked at 11 p.m. (2005). However, there
is a difference in the types of offenses that occur.
Jacob and Lefgren (2003) determined that the level
of property crime committed by juveniles decreases
by roughly 14 percent on days when school is in
session. In contrast, they found that the level of
Figure 9: Average Age at Time of Offense, by Broad Offense Class
Figure 8: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints by Day of
Week
82% of Complaints filed Monday-Friday
18% of Complaints filed Saturday-Sunday
10 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
Charged
Offense Class
Minimum Age
Reported
Average Age at
Time of Offense
Maximum Age
Reported
Standard Deviation
from Mean
A 14 14.8 15 0.45
B1 10 13.6 16 1.18
B2 9 13.7 15 1.95
C 6 13.3 15 1.83
D 7 14.3 15 1.07
E 6 14.1 15 1.50
F 8 14.1 17 1.42
G 6 14.2 16 1.22
H 7 14.1 16 1.23
I 6 14.0 16 1.37
A1 5 13.0 17 2.12
M1 6 13.7 18 1.53
M2 6 13.8 17 1.44
M3 7 14.1 16 1.14
Status 6 14.5 19 1.53
Table 2: Average Age at Time of Offense, by Broad Offense Class
Figure 10: Arrest of Juveniles Aged 15 and Under, 1999-2008
Note: The trendline in Figure 10, above, indicates the gradual decline in the number of juvenile arrests
between 1999 and 2008.
Volume 28, No. 1 11
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
violent offenses increased by roughly 28 percent on
school days.
The spike in complaints illustrated in Figure 8 (on
page 8) at midnight results from the time field being
left blank when specific time of offense is not known
or not entered.
Average Age at Time of Offense
The offenders reported through NC JOIN were
between the ages of six and sixteen. While there
were a few instances where juveniles as young as 5
and as old as 17 were reported, these instances were
rare; however, they do cover individuals outside the
range of juvenile age as defined by North Carolina
General Statutes.
Table 2 at the top of page 10 shows the average age
at the time the offense was commited by offense
class. The most serious offense, first degree murder
is the only Class A offense. There were five reported
incidents of murder reported in 2008, committed
by youth aged 14 and 15 years. The low standard
deviation score reflects the lack of dispersion in
the data. (The lower the standard deviation score,
the less the data is spread out.) Class A1 offenses
(serious misdemeanors) had the broadest dispersion
of ages reported, ranging from 5 to 17 years. Class
A1 misdemeanors include Assault on a Government
Official or Employee, Assault with a Deadly Weapon,
Assault on a School Employee or Volunteer and
Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury.
UCR Trends
Overall, there has been a downward trend in juvenile
arrests between 1999 and 2008. In 2008, a total of
19,142 arrests were reported, down from a high in
2003 of 23,888.7 Of those arrests, index crimes
accounted for 27.7 percent of all juvenile arrests.
Twenty-four percent of index crimes were property
crimes and 3.7 percent were violent index crimes.
The majority of arrests, 72.3 percent, were for non-index
crimes. Four offense categories accounted for
64 percent of all juvenile arrests. They included:
Other Assaults – Not Aggravated, 21.4 percent;
Larceny – Theft, 17.2 percent; Disorderly Conduct/
Drunk and Disorderly, 14.2 percent; and All Other
Offenses, 11.5 percent. The only index offense
Figure 11: Juvenile Arrests by Offense
Note: The category ‘All Other Offenses’ includes a total of 28 separate offenses.
12 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
listed in the top ten was Aggravated Assault, with
456 arrests (2.4%).
In all offense categories, as illustrated in Figure 13
below, male offenders were arrested more frequently
than females in all categories and constituted a
significantly larger percentage of those arrested for
Violent Index Offenses such as Murder or Aggravated
Assault.
Conclusion
As Yanich noted, juvenile crime is often reported in
the media only when it reaches the level of tragedies
similar to the shootings at Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado, in April 1999 or at the Westside
Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in March
1998 (2005). It is important to step away from the
depiction of juvenile crime and delinquency as
portrayed in the media and take an analytical look
at the issue. This report has collected information
on juvenile crime and offenses in order to present an
overall view of juvenile behavior. Each data source
provides a different perspective of the problem
and no two sources provide directly comparable
information.
Schools are impacted by and also have an impact
on juvenile delinquency and crime. While crime
patterns indicate an increase in criminal offenses
before and after school and during school lunch
hours, the total effect of school and school activities
on juvenile crime is not clear. Circumstances vary
by the time of day and may explain some of the
variations that occur. (Gottfredson and Soulé, 2005)
While students spend much of the day separated into
classroom groups, portions of the day, including
lunch, breaks and moving between classes, a large
number of students are crowded together in lunch
Figure 12: Index and Non-index Crime Arrests
for Juveniles Aged 15 and Under
Figure 13: UCR Juvenile Arrests by Sex and Offense Category
Volume 28, No. 1 13
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
rooms, hallways and on school grounds. This, along
with the culture of the school, has a direct impact on
the behavior of students. (Chen, 2008) Two of the
most commonly occurring offenses — Simple Assault
and Simple Affray — could simply result from a large
number of youth being concentrated in one area at the
same time: before school, at lunch breaks and after
school. Research has indicated that one effect of
grouping large numbers of juveniles together during
and after school is an increase in crimes against
persons. (Gottfredson and Soulé, 2005) This would
explain the increase in complaints reported before
and after school hours, as indicated in Figure 7 on
page 8. While researchers noted that smaller schools
are associated with a lower incidence of crime than
larger schools (Chen, 2008), information on the
size of schools and the specific number of incidents
that were associated with individual schools was
not available for this report. While NC JOIN could
provide information at the school level, data available
from other sources did not include information such
as school location (urban, suburban or rural), size of
school, number of students enrolled or the general
location of the offense or arrest reported.
Additional research is needed to provide a clearer
picture of juvenile offenses as they relate to
school and after-school programs. A survey of
school personnel and school resource officers that
specifically address student activity, student behavior,
after-school programs and activities and the incidence
of offenses or complaints could contribute significant
information to the assessment of this issue. Until
comparable information is available or regular data
sources are able to incorporate more comprehensive
information in their reporting procedures, a complete
understanding of the problem and incidence of
juvenile crime and the means to address it cannot
be achieved.
While juvenile offenses occur in or around schools,
the majority — 59 percent — of reported offenses are
committed outside the school environment. Despite
the focus of the media on violent juvenile crime,
these crimes, such as murder, assault with a deadly
weapon, or rape, account for only 4 percent of the
offenses reported. While most reported offenses are
not violent, it is clear that the issue of juvenile crime
needs to be addressed. Additional research focused
on the circumstances of the offenses and the offenders
could provide more insight and result in concrete
information to build a solution to the problem of
juvenile crime and delinquency.
This report has attempted to provide information
on the actual reported incidents of juvenile crime
as reported though multiple systems. While each
program reveals a new facet of the problem of
juvenile crime, it is clear that there is no means
of correlating the data between the different
programs or systems. However, a more in-depth
and comprehensive study of juvenile crime could
provide integrated information that would allow
for a time/space/offense analysis of juvenile crime.
14 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
Obtaining detailed information on individual offenses
or complaints could allow local law enforcement
agencies to conduct a geospatial analysis of crimes,
including when and where they occur, the proximity
to school or the home of the offender and other factors
that contribute to the crime. Geospatial analysis
would provide more detailed information on the
pattern of juvenile crime and delinquency and help
delineate where offenses and crimes occur during
the critical hours just before and after school. The
end result would be reliable data on juvenile crime
and activities and knowledge that could contribute
to the development of effective programs to address
juvenile crime and delinquency.
Note: Since the writing of this paper, House Bill 632
and Senate Bill 506 have been introduced in the N.C.
General Assembly to enact legislation that will raise
the age of juvenile jurisdiction in North Carolina to
18 in six month increments over a four year period.
Prepared by Karen G. Jayson
Social/Clinical Research Specialist
N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission
Criminal Justice Analysis Center
Endnotes
1 Uniform Crime Reporting, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice,
Revised 2004. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/handbook/
ucrhandbook04.pdf
2 N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.
3 N.C. Office of Managment and Budget, State Data
Center, July 1, 2008, County Age Groups Total -
Standard. Retrieved from http://www.osbm.state.
nc.us/demog/countytotals_agegroup_2008.html.
4 N.C. Department of Public Instruction
5 Simple Affray is generally defined as a fight between
two or more people that does not involve weapons.
Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://www.reference.
com/motif/Reference/simple-affray.
6 N.C. Court of Appeals, Case No. COA01-1544
7 N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, 2008 Crime Statistics
in Detailed Reports, Juvenile Arrests Uner 16 by Offense,
Ten-Year Trend. Retrieved from http://crimereporting.
ncdoj.gov/Reports.aspx.
References
Chen, G. (2008) Communities, Students, Schools
and School Crime: A Confirmatory Study of Crime
in U.S. High Schools. Urban Education, 43(3),
301-318.
General Assembly of North Carolina (2011).
House Bill 632 and Senate Bill 506. Retrieved
April 14, 2011 from http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/
sessions/2011/bills/house/pdf/h632v1.pdf and http://
www.ncga.state.nc.us/sessions/2011/bills/senate/pdf/
s506v1.pdf
Gottfredson, D.C. and Soulé, D. A. (2005). The Timing
of Property Crime, Violent Crime, and Substance Use
Among Juveniles. Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency, 24(1), 11-120.
Henrichson, C. and Levshin, V. (2011). Cost-Benefit
Analysis of Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction
in North Carolina. Vera Institue of Justice. Retrieved
online from http://www.vera.org/content/cost-benefit-
analysis-raising-age-juvenile-jurisdiction-north-
carolina
Jacob, B.A. and Lefgren, L. (2003) Are Idle hands the
Devil’s Worshop? Incapacitation, Concentration and
Juvenile Crime. The American Economic Review,
93(5), 1560-1577.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
(2010)
North Carolina Office of Management and Budget
(2010) July 1, 2008, County Age Groups Total
- Standard, Retrieved April 14, 2011 from http://
www.osbm.state.nc.us/demog/countytotals_
agegroup_2008.html
Yanich, D. (2005). Kids, Crime, and Local Television
News. Crime & Delinquency, 51(1) 103-132.
Volume 28, No. 1 15
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
SYSTEM STATS
A Publication of the
Governor’s Crime Commission
Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
(919) 733-4564
http://www.ncgccd.org
Scott E. Thomas
Chair, Governor’s Crime Commission
Gwendolyn Burrell
Executive Director
Dr. James Klopovic Richard A. Hayes Justin Davis
Criminal Justice Planner Senior Research Analyst Social/Clinical Research Specialist
Karen G. Jayson Yu Li Hsu
Social/Clinical Research Specialist Research Assistant
The Governor’s Crime Commission was established in 1977 by the North Carolina General Assembly under G.S. 143B-479. Its primary duty is “to be the chief advisory body to the Governor
and the Secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety for the development and implementation of criminal justice policy.” The Crime Commission is always open to comments
and suggestions from the public as well as criminal justice officials. Please contact us and let us know your thoughts and feelings on the information contained in this publication or on any
other criminal justice issue of concern to you.
Beverly Eaves Perdue
Governor
Scott E. Thomas, Chair
Governor’s Crime Commission
Secretary Reuben F. Young
Department of Crime Control & Public Safety
Dr. June Atkinson, Superintendent
Department of Public Instruction
Robin Baker
N.C. Victim Assistance Network
Chief Chris Blue
Chapel Hill Police Department
Chief Judge Athena Brooks
29B District Court
Secretary Lanier M. Cansler
Dept. of Health & Human Services
Steven Cogburn
Clerk of Superior Court, Buncombe County
Judge J. C. Cole
Superior Court Judge
Attorney General Roy Cooper
Department of Justice
Mayor James K. Festerman
City of Reidsville
Judge Carl Fox
Superior Court Judge
Dr. Catherine Mitchell-Fuentes
UNC Charlotte
Representative R. Phillip Haire
N.C. House of Representatives
Secretary Linda Wheeler Hayes
Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
Jean R. Irvin
Private Juvenile Justice Program
Dr. Robin Jenkins, Deputy Secretary
Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
David E. Jones, Deputy Secretary
Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
Senator Edward “Ed” Jones
North Carolina State Senate
Secretary Alvin W. Keller, Jr.
Department of Correction
Sheriff James L. Knight
Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
Robert Lewis, Director
Division of Prisons, DOC
Thomas Maher
N.C. Office of Indigent Defense Services
Jerry G. Monette
Craven County Sheriff’s Office
Chief Rodney Monroe
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
Katelyn Moore
Student Member
Timothy Moose, Director
Division of Community Corrections, DOC
Michael Page, Chair
Durham County Board of Commissioners
Judge Ali Paksoy
27B District Court
Chief Justice Sarah E. Parker
North Carolina Supreme Court
James W. Pierce, Jr.
Kids Making It
Sandra Lynn Reid
Elon University
Jennifer Roberts, Chair
Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners
Sharon Sadler
Hyde County Clerk of Superior Court
Captain J. Wayne Sears
Rocky Mount Police Department
Richard L. Shaffer
27B Prosecutorial District
Detective Crystal Lynn Sharpe
Graham Police Department
Judge John W. Smith, Director
Administrative Office of the Courts
Senator John J. Snow
North Carolina State Senate
Representative Michael H. Wray
N.C. House of Representatives
Commission Members as of September 30, 2011
16 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission
1201 Front Street, Suite 200
Raleigh, NC 27609
The printing of this document was supported under grant number 2010-BJ-CX-K006, as awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department
of Justice. The opinions and findings presented in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U. S. Department of Justice. This document
was printed at a cost of $ 1,308.11 or $ 1.09 per copy for 1,200 copies. October 2011
Current and previous issues of SystemStats can be found online at www.ncgccd.org/sysstat.htm.

Volume 28, No. 1 1
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
North Carolina Criminal Justice Analysis Center Governor’s Crime Commission
Volume 28, No. 1
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
A Division of the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
SystemStats
Introduction
The perception of juvenile crime is often based on
news reports and typically does not become a topic
of concern to the public until a serious juvenile crime
makes headline news. Yanich noted that the vast
majority of juvenile crime reporting occurs locally on
local television news and in local newspapers (2005).
While juvenile delinquency is a constant concern
to the public and to correctional officials, to obtain
an accurate picture of juvenile offenses and where
offenses occur, it is necessary to look at the range of
offenses as reported by all agencies involved in the
reporting of juvenile crime.
A wide variety of factors should be included in any
evaluation of juvenile offenses. In an effort to gain
more insight into the type of offenses committed by
juveniles and where offenses take place, data was
requested from the N.C. Department of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the State Bureau
of Investigation and the North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction. This report initially began as
an examination of complaints issued against juveniles
and the time and location of the complaints. To
obtain more insight, additional information was
collected on potential factors that may or may not
impact juveniles, including school suspension rates,
dropout rates, age, race, gender and types of offenses
committed. Information was studied to obtain a
better perspective of juvenile offenses and to gain a
more accurate perception of the problem of juvenile
delinquency.
By standard definition — and in most states — a
person under the age of 18 is treated as a juvenile,
unless the offense committed merits transfer to adult
court. In North Carolina an individual between the
ages of six and 15 is treated as a juvenile. Juvenile
offenders come under the jurisdiction of the N.C.
Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention and the juvenile court system while
individuals age 16 and older are treated as adults in
the criminal justice system. Youth under the age of
16 who commit serious offenses may be waived or
transferred out of the juvenile system to be treated or
tried as an adult. North Carolina and New York are
currently the only states that consider youth aged 16
and 17 as adults in the criminal justice system. The
Vera Institute of Justice has conducted a cost-benefit
analysis of the feasibility and impact of raising the age
of juvenile jurisdiction to 18 in North Carolina. Their
research indicates that the overall benefits of raising
the juvenile age outweigh the costs (Henrichson &
Levshin, 2011).
Information for this report was obtained from the
Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention’s N.C. Juvenile Offender Information
Network (NC JOIN) and the State Bureau of
Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program
(UCR). The NC JOIN program collects information
on complaints filed against juveniles while the UCR
program gathers data on arrests. It should be noted
that NC JOIN data provides the total number of
complaints filed against an individual, not the total
2 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
number of juveniles offending, while UCR data
represents the number of arrests, not the number of
individual juveniles arrested. Juveniles may have
more than one complaint filed against them in the
NC JOIN system based on a single incident. For
example, a single traffic stop can result in multiple
complaints for driving with an expired tag, assault
on a government employee, driving while impaired,
possession of a controlled substance and resisting a
public officer. If an individual is arrested for armed
robbery, this individual may have also committed
an aggravated assault, breaking and entering or
trespassing; however, in the UCR system, only
the most serious offense would be reported on the
arrest report. Because of the differences in the data
collected and the reporting methodology used, NC
JOIN data and UCR data are not comparable.
Uniform Crime Report: UCR
The Uniform Crime Reporting program is a voluntary
effort to collect nationwide data on crime based
on information submitted to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation by law enforcement agencies across
the country. Information is collected on known
offenses and persons arrested by law enforcement
agencies. The UCR program includes only crimes
reported to participating law enforcement agencies.
The data obtained are based on the count, or score,
of reported offenses or arrests. A ‘hierarchy rule’
is used in UCR reporting to indicate and report
only the most serious offense in the crime reporting
process. There are some exceptions to this rule, such
as homicide, forcible rape or aggravated assault,
when each victim is counted as an offense. Also,
in motor vehicle theft each vehicle stolen is scored
as a separate offense. Arson may also be counted
more than once if more than one individual or
multiple buildings are involved. Aside from these
exceptions, when an offender commits multiple
offenses in a single incident, only the most serious
of those offenses will be reported. The UCR report
categorizes offenses according to violent and serious
property crime and all other crimes ( Part I and Part
II offenses). Information on the offense is collected
for murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible
rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft,
motor vehicle theft, and arson — offenses that
are serious crimes by nature and/or volume. Arrest
information is collected on all offenses.1
North Carolina Juvenile Online Information
Network: NC JOIN
The N.C. Juvenile Online Information Network, or
NC JOIN, is a Web-based system that allows DJJDP
staff at various points in the state’s juvenile justice
system to track the progress and placement of youth
being served by various programs and facilities.
The greater part of the information in the NC JOIN
system is entered by court counselors as complaints
against juveniles. Staff at youth development centers
and detention centers may also enter information
while juveniles are under their supervision. While
UCR data counts only one arrest per offender,
except in those cases indicated previously, NC-JOIN
information may include multiple offenses for a
single offender. Another significant difference is that
complaints are listed as offenses according to N.C.
General Statutes and are not classified in the same
manner as UCR offenses.
NC JOIN places crucial information at the fingertips
of court counselors, detention and youth development
center staff throughout the state. Future plans
include expanding appropriate access to community
Volume 28, No. 1 3
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
prevention and intervention programs funded through
local Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils in each of
the 100 counties. NC JOIN is also an asset to those
who plan and evaluate programs and services. It
has become an essential tool in providing the data
necessary in making decisions on the appropriate
use of limited resources to help fund and direct
services for youth involved in crime and in both
prevention and intervention efforts at the state and
local levels.2
Population Trends
Between 2000 and 2009, the total population of North
Carolina increased by 16 percent, from 8,079,152 to
9,397,548. The juvenile population under the age
of 18 has grown from 1,972,789 to 2,243,403, an
increase of 14 percent from 2000 to 2009. Juveniles
under the age of 18 accounted for 24 percent of
the total population of North Carolina in 2009
according to State Office of Budget and Management
projections, while juveniles aged 6 to 15, the ages
covered in this report, make up 12 percent of the total
state population. This proportion has remained steady
since the 2000 census. The portion of the population
aged five to 17 years account for 1,610,024 of the total
population in 2009. This segment has increased by
13 percent from 2000, but the growth of this group
has slowed since that time.3
Dropout Events, Suspensions and Expulsions
from School
According to information in the Department of Public
Instruction’s annual Report to the Joint Legislative
Education Oversight Committee Consolidated Data
Report for 2007-2008, high schools in North Carolina
reported a drop out rate of 4.97%, a decrease from
the 2006-2007 school year’s rate of 5.24%. During
the 2007-2008 academic year 22,434 students in
grades 9-12 dropped out of school. The predominant
reasons given included attendance (which accounted
Figure 1: 2008 Comparison of North Carolina Population Aged 6-15
Total Population,Complaints in NC JOIN and UCR Arrests
4 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
for almost half of all dropouts), enrollment in a
community college program, moved − school status
unknown, academic problems, long term suspension
and discipline problems.4
There were 308,107 short-term (10 days or less)
suspensions and 5,225 long term suspensions (11
days or more) reported statewide in 2007-2008. For
high school students, the short-term suspension rate
was 3.46 suspensions for every 10 students. Black
students received the most short-term suspensions,
followed by white students. Male students also
received more suspensions than female students.
Ninth graders received the largest number of short-term
suspensions out of those enrolled in grades
9-12. Complete demographic data are not available
for students who received long-term suspensions.
Long term suspensions averaged 41.4 school days
per suspension, a significant decrease from previous
years. It was noted in the report that the decrease
in long-term suspensions may be attributable to the
increased use of alternative learning
programs for those suspensions.
Note: the numbers presented are a
count of suspensions and not a count
of individual students.
One-hundred sixteen students were
expelled from schools across the
state in 2007-2008. The majority
of those expelled were male. Ninth
grade students accounted for 43 (37
percent) of the 116 expulsions and
students receiving special education
services made up 11 percent (13
students) of all students expelled.
Among ethnic groups, black students
made up the larger group of expelled students,
followed by white students. Students expelled from
a school are not allowed to return to the district,
but may be served in alternative learning programs,
apply for admission to another district or apply for
readmission to the district.
General Summary of Offenses Reported Through
NC JOIN
Misdemeanors make up the greatest proportion of
offenses committed by juveniles. They account for
69 percent of offenses reported. Felony offenses
account for 19 percent and status offenses (offenses
related specifically to juveniles) make up the
remaining 12 percent of complaints.
A preliminary look at complaints filed on juveniles
indicated the predominant offense reported was
simple assault which accounted for 10 percent of all
offenses reported. Simple assault is defined as an
assault in which there is no intention to do any other
injury or bodily harm5, as opposed to aggravated
assault where there is a specific intent to do bodily
harm. The average age at the time the simple assault
complaint was filed was 13.5 years while the age
range of offenders varied from 6 to 16. Juveniles
aged 15 and 16 years of age accounted for 60 percent
(2,629) of all simple assault complaints filed and
13 and 14 year olds accounted for an additional 30
percent (1,321) of the remaining complaints. The
remaining 10 percent (429) were committed by
juveniles aged 6 to 11.
The second most commonly reported complaint was
Misdemeanor Larceny. Misdemeanor Larceny is
Figure 2: Complaints by Broad Offense Class, 2008 NC JOIN Data
Volume 28, No. 1 5
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
generally defined as larceny of goods with a value less
than $1,000. Shoplifting and other various larceny
offenses are not included in this category. Again, the
most common juvenile offenders were aged 15 and
16. Fifteen year olds accounted for 40 percent and
14 year olds accounted for 29 percent of complaints
filed, a total of 69 percent (2,277) for both ages
combined. Thirteen and 14 year olds made up 24
percent (795) of complaints filed, while youth aged
6 to 11 accounted for 6 percent (184). A total of 829
complaints were filed for shoplifting. Fifteen year
olds committed 42 percent (348) of those offenses
reported, while 14 year olds were responsible for
29 percent (238) and 13 year olds 16 percent (130)
of complaints. Only 14 youth were charged with
a second and third offense within five years of the
first charge. Shoplifting ranked 16th on the list of all
complaints filed.
Simple affray, defined as “a fight between two or
more persons in a public place so as to cause terror to
the people”6 is the third most common complaint filed
in the NC JOIN system. A total of 1,825 complaints
were filed for youth aged 6 to 15 in 2008. Only four
complaints were reported for students aged 6 to
9. Following the same pattern, 15 year olds again
accounted for the largest portion of complaints filed,
44 percent (809) and 14 year olds accounted for 32
percent (585) of all complaints. Complaints filed on
13 year olds made up 256, or 14 percent, of simple
affray complaints.
Other significant complaints included felonious
breaking and entering, injury to real property,
disorderly conduct at school, communicating threats,
ungovernable under the age of 16, larceny after
breaking or entering and truant under the age of 16.
Assault Related Complaints
Simple assault, simple affray and disorderly conduct
at school complaints, which are classified as Class 2
Misdemeanors, account for 18 percent of all offenses
reported in the NC JOIN system in 2008. Under the
UCR reporting system, which reports actual arrests,
Other Assaults – Not Aggravated made up 21 percent
of total arrests. Aggravated Assaults accounted for
only two percent of all arrests. Violent crime, which
includes Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter,
Forcible Rape, Robbery and Assault-Aggravated,
Figure 3: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints by Offense Class and Category
6 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
made up four percent (121 arrests during 2008) of
all arrests for juveniles aged 15 and under.
Status Offenses
Status offenses are classified as offenses related
specifically to juveniles — offenses that would not
be considered an offense if committed by an adult,
such as truancy or running away. The majority of
status offenses committed fell under the classification
of Ungovernable. Ungovernable refers to youth or
children that do not submit to the control or authority
of parents or other authority figures. In 2008, 1,325
youth were reported as just ungovernable and under
the age of 16, covering youth from a minimum age of
7 to a maximum age of 17 (no criteria were submitted
to explain this outlier). A total of 2,629 youth were
reported as ungovernable in combination with other
status offenses such as run away or truant. Table 1,
below, provides totals for the number of complaints
reported as Status Offenses. According to UCR
Figure 4: 2008 NC JOIN Breakout of Status
Complaints by Type
Reported Status Offense Number of Complaints
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile, Run Away and Truant < 16 11
Ungovernable, Run Away and Truant < 16 39
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Truant < 16 8
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away >= 16 10
Ungovernable, Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away < 16 10
Ungovernable and Truant < 16 253
Ungovernable and Run Away >= 16 215
Ungovernable and Run Away < 16 266
Ungovernable and Found in places unlawful for Juvenile >= 16 4
Ungovernable and Found in places unlawful for Juvenile < 16 9
Ungovernable >= 16 479
Ungovernable < 16 1,325
Truant < 16 1,210
Run Away from within North Carolina >= 16 463
Run Away from within North Carolina < 16 548
Run Away from outside North Carolina >= 16 59
Run Away from outside North Carolina < 16 49
Run Away and Truant < 16 39
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Truant < 16 1
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away >= 16 18
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile and Run Away < 16 11
Found in places unlawful for Juvenile < 16 2
Table 1: Juvenile Complaints by Reported Status Offense
Volume 28, No. 1 7
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
records, 841 juveniles (4%) under the age of 15 were
arrested as runaways in 2008.
Other Offense Categories
Motor vehicle related complaints, ranging from
‘exceeding the posted speed limit’ to ‘failure to burn
head lamps,’ accounted for only 3 percent of offenses
reported in NC JOIN. The primary offenses reported
were driving without a license and unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle. Drug related offenses accounted
for 7 percent of offenses. These included simple
possession (2%), possession of drug paraphernalia
(1%) and possession of marijuana up to one-half
ounce (1%). All other drug-related offenses, ranging
from possession of fortified wine or liquor to loitering
for drug sales averaged below one percent of total
offenses. During 2008, UCR reports indicate that
14% (2,723) of arrests of juveniles aged 15 were
for Drunk and Disorderly Conduct. An additional
49 juveniles in the age category were arrested for
Driving under the Influence and 240 were arrested
for violating liquor laws.
Location where offenses are committed
School-related complaints accounted for 41 percent
of complaints reported, while 59 percent were
listed as not school related. Data indicate that 38.7
percent of offenses took place on school grounds or
property. Two percent of complaints were related
to school buses or school bus stops. Offenses
occurring in residences made up a significant portion
Figure 5: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints by Location
* Other than home school, preschool, daycare of YDC.
** The remaining 29 locations included in ‘All Other Locations’ each accounted for less than 1% of total complaints
filed.
8 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
of complaints. Residences were broken out as the
home of the victim (16.7 % or 7,265), the home of the
juvenile (12.2% or 5,315) and other residences (3.9%
or 1,682). Highways/Roads/Alleys/Streets made up
7.6 percent and department or discount stores made
up an additional 4.7 percent of locations reported.
School Related
Simple Assault, Simple Affray and Disorderly
Conduct at School complaints made up 32 percent
of school related offenses reported through NC
JOIN in 2008. Fifty-five percent of all Simple
Assault complaints and 89 percent of Simple Affray
complaints are school related. Of 1,530 complaints
filed for Disorderly Conduct at School, only three
were reported as not school related. Other offenses
that were reported at significant levels included Truant
and Under Age 16 (7%), Misdemeanor Weapons on
Educational Property (6%), Misdemeanor Larceny
(6%), Communicating Threats (5%), Assault on
a Government Official or Employee (4%) and
Simple Possession of a Schedule VI Controlled
Substance (3%). Misdemeanor Larceny was the
most predominant offense reported as not related
to school, totaling 9 percent of all complaints that
were not related to school. Simple Assault made
up 8 percent of complaints, followed by Felonious
Breaking and Entering (6%), Injury to Real Property
(5%), Ungovernable Under the Age of 16 (5%) and
Larceny After Breaking or Entering (4%). A total
of 17,388 (41%) complaints covering 222 separate
offenses were school-related, compared to 25,836
(59%) complaints for 390 separate offenses that were
not school-related.
Day of Week/Time of Day of Offenses
2008 NC JOIN data shows that 82 percent of
complaints are filed Monday through Friday, while
18 percent are filed on Saturday and Sunday. School-related
complaints account for 38 percent of all
complaints filed. During the week 41 percent of all
offenses are school related, 15 percent occur at the
Figure 7: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints Day of Week and Time of Day
Figure 6: 2008 NC JOIN School Related
Complaints
Volume 28, No. 1 9
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
residence of the victim and 12 percent occur at the
residence of the juvenile. On weekends, activity
shifts from the school to homes. Forty-seven percent
of complaints occur in residences: 26 percent occur
at the home of the victim, 14 percent at the home of
the juvenile and 7 percent at other residences. Eleven
percent of complaints occur on highways or streets
and 10 percent in department/discount stores.
According to the complaints reported in the NC JOIN
system, the majority of complaints are filed between
Monday and Friday. Overall, the greatest number
of complaints are filed on Tuesdays and Fridays and
take place on School/College Grounds or Property.
On weekends, more complaints were reported on
Saturday than Sunday. The majority of weekend
complaints shift from school-related to residences,
and are reported as occurring either in the home of
the victim or the home of the juvenile. Additional
weekend complaints also occur on highways/road/
alleys or streets. Department and discount stores
report the highest number of complaints occurring
on Saturdays.
Research has shown that juvenile crime varies
according to the time of day and the day of the
week. Gottfredson and Soulé’s analysis confirmed
that juvenile serious violent crime peaked between 2
p.m. and 6 p.m. on school days, the hours just after
schools is dismissed, whereas adult serious violent
crime peaked at 11 p.m. (2005). However, there
is a difference in the types of offenses that occur.
Jacob and Lefgren (2003) determined that the level
of property crime committed by juveniles decreases
by roughly 14 percent on days when school is in
session. In contrast, they found that the level of
Figure 9: Average Age at Time of Offense, by Broad Offense Class
Figure 8: 2008 NC JOIN Complaints by Day of
Week
82% of Complaints filed Monday-Friday
18% of Complaints filed Saturday-Sunday
10 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
Charged
Offense Class
Minimum Age
Reported
Average Age at
Time of Offense
Maximum Age
Reported
Standard Deviation
from Mean
A 14 14.8 15 0.45
B1 10 13.6 16 1.18
B2 9 13.7 15 1.95
C 6 13.3 15 1.83
D 7 14.3 15 1.07
E 6 14.1 15 1.50
F 8 14.1 17 1.42
G 6 14.2 16 1.22
H 7 14.1 16 1.23
I 6 14.0 16 1.37
A1 5 13.0 17 2.12
M1 6 13.7 18 1.53
M2 6 13.8 17 1.44
M3 7 14.1 16 1.14
Status 6 14.5 19 1.53
Table 2: Average Age at Time of Offense, by Broad Offense Class
Figure 10: Arrest of Juveniles Aged 15 and Under, 1999-2008
Note: The trendline in Figure 10, above, indicates the gradual decline in the number of juvenile arrests
between 1999 and 2008.
Volume 28, No. 1 11
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
violent offenses increased by roughly 28 percent on
school days.
The spike in complaints illustrated in Figure 8 (on
page 8) at midnight results from the time field being
left blank when specific time of offense is not known
or not entered.
Average Age at Time of Offense
The offenders reported through NC JOIN were
between the ages of six and sixteen. While there
were a few instances where juveniles as young as 5
and as old as 17 were reported, these instances were
rare; however, they do cover individuals outside the
range of juvenile age as defined by North Carolina
General Statutes.
Table 2 at the top of page 10 shows the average age
at the time the offense was commited by offense
class. The most serious offense, first degree murder
is the only Class A offense. There were five reported
incidents of murder reported in 2008, committed
by youth aged 14 and 15 years. The low standard
deviation score reflects the lack of dispersion in
the data. (The lower the standard deviation score,
the less the data is spread out.) Class A1 offenses
(serious misdemeanors) had the broadest dispersion
of ages reported, ranging from 5 to 17 years. Class
A1 misdemeanors include Assault on a Government
Official or Employee, Assault with a Deadly Weapon,
Assault on a School Employee or Volunteer and
Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury.
UCR Trends
Overall, there has been a downward trend in juvenile
arrests between 1999 and 2008. In 2008, a total of
19,142 arrests were reported, down from a high in
2003 of 23,888.7 Of those arrests, index crimes
accounted for 27.7 percent of all juvenile arrests.
Twenty-four percent of index crimes were property
crimes and 3.7 percent were violent index crimes.
The majority of arrests, 72.3 percent, were for non-index
crimes. Four offense categories accounted for
64 percent of all juvenile arrests. They included:
Other Assaults – Not Aggravated, 21.4 percent;
Larceny – Theft, 17.2 percent; Disorderly Conduct/
Drunk and Disorderly, 14.2 percent; and All Other
Offenses, 11.5 percent. The only index offense
Figure 11: Juvenile Arrests by Offense
Note: The category ‘All Other Offenses’ includes a total of 28 separate offenses.
12 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
listed in the top ten was Aggravated Assault, with
456 arrests (2.4%).
In all offense categories, as illustrated in Figure 13
below, male offenders were arrested more frequently
than females in all categories and constituted a
significantly larger percentage of those arrested for
Violent Index Offenses such as Murder or Aggravated
Assault.
Conclusion
As Yanich noted, juvenile crime is often reported in
the media only when it reaches the level of tragedies
similar to the shootings at Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado, in April 1999 or at the Westside
Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in March
1998 (2005). It is important to step away from the
depiction of juvenile crime and delinquency as
portrayed in the media and take an analytical look
at the issue. This report has collected information
on juvenile crime and offenses in order to present an
overall view of juvenile behavior. Each data source
provides a different perspective of the problem
and no two sources provide directly comparable
information.
Schools are impacted by and also have an impact
on juvenile delinquency and crime. While crime
patterns indicate an increase in criminal offenses
before and after school and during school lunch
hours, the total effect of school and school activities
on juvenile crime is not clear. Circumstances vary
by the time of day and may explain some of the
variations that occur. (Gottfredson and Soulé, 2005)
While students spend much of the day separated into
classroom groups, portions of the day, including
lunch, breaks and moving between classes, a large
number of students are crowded together in lunch
Figure 12: Index and Non-index Crime Arrests
for Juveniles Aged 15 and Under
Figure 13: UCR Juvenile Arrests by Sex and Offense Category
Volume 28, No. 1 13
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
rooms, hallways and on school grounds. This, along
with the culture of the school, has a direct impact on
the behavior of students. (Chen, 2008) Two of the
most commonly occurring offenses — Simple Assault
and Simple Affray — could simply result from a large
number of youth being concentrated in one area at the
same time: before school, at lunch breaks and after
school. Research has indicated that one effect of
grouping large numbers of juveniles together during
and after school is an increase in crimes against
persons. (Gottfredson and Soulé, 2005) This would
explain the increase in complaints reported before
and after school hours, as indicated in Figure 7 on
page 8. While researchers noted that smaller schools
are associated with a lower incidence of crime than
larger schools (Chen, 2008), information on the
size of schools and the specific number of incidents
that were associated with individual schools was
not available for this report. While NC JOIN could
provide information at the school level, data available
from other sources did not include information such
as school location (urban, suburban or rural), size of
school, number of students enrolled or the general
location of the offense or arrest reported.
Additional research is needed to provide a clearer
picture of juvenile offenses as they relate to
school and after-school programs. A survey of
school personnel and school resource officers that
specifically address student activity, student behavior,
after-school programs and activities and the incidence
of offenses or complaints could contribute significant
information to the assessment of this issue. Until
comparable information is available or regular data
sources are able to incorporate more comprehensive
information in their reporting procedures, a complete
understanding of the problem and incidence of
juvenile crime and the means to address it cannot
be achieved.
While juvenile offenses occur in or around schools,
the majority — 59 percent — of reported offenses are
committed outside the school environment. Despite
the focus of the media on violent juvenile crime,
these crimes, such as murder, assault with a deadly
weapon, or rape, account for only 4 percent of the
offenses reported. While most reported offenses are
not violent, it is clear that the issue of juvenile crime
needs to be addressed. Additional research focused
on the circumstances of the offenses and the offenders
could provide more insight and result in concrete
information to build a solution to the problem of
juvenile crime and delinquency.
This report has attempted to provide information
on the actual reported incidents of juvenile crime
as reported though multiple systems. While each
program reveals a new facet of the problem of
juvenile crime, it is clear that there is no means
of correlating the data between the different
programs or systems. However, a more in-depth
and comprehensive study of juvenile crime could
provide integrated information that would allow
for a time/space/offense analysis of juvenile crime.
14 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
Obtaining detailed information on individual offenses
or complaints could allow local law enforcement
agencies to conduct a geospatial analysis of crimes,
including when and where they occur, the proximity
to school or the home of the offender and other factors
that contribute to the crime. Geospatial analysis
would provide more detailed information on the
pattern of juvenile crime and delinquency and help
delineate where offenses and crimes occur during
the critical hours just before and after school. The
end result would be reliable data on juvenile crime
and activities and knowledge that could contribute
to the development of effective programs to address
juvenile crime and delinquency.
Note: Since the writing of this paper, House Bill 632
and Senate Bill 506 have been introduced in the N.C.
General Assembly to enact legislation that will raise
the age of juvenile jurisdiction in North Carolina to
18 in six month increments over a four year period.
Prepared by Karen G. Jayson
Social/Clinical Research Specialist
N.C. Governor’s Crime Commission
Criminal Justice Analysis Center
Endnotes
1 Uniform Crime Reporting, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice,
Revised 2004. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/handbook/
ucrhandbook04.pdf
2 N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention.
3 N.C. Office of Managment and Budget, State Data
Center, July 1, 2008, County Age Groups Total -
Standard. Retrieved from http://www.osbm.state.
nc.us/demog/countytotals_agegroup_2008.html.
4 N.C. Department of Public Instruction
5 Simple Affray is generally defined as a fight between
two or more people that does not involve weapons.
Retrieved April 5, 2011 from http://www.reference.
com/motif/Reference/simple-affray.
6 N.C. Court of Appeals, Case No. COA01-1544
7 N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, 2008 Crime Statistics
in Detailed Reports, Juvenile Arrests Uner 16 by Offense,
Ten-Year Trend. Retrieved from http://crimereporting.
ncdoj.gov/Reports.aspx.
References
Chen, G. (2008) Communities, Students, Schools
and School Crime: A Confirmatory Study of Crime
in U.S. High Schools. Urban Education, 43(3),
301-318.
General Assembly of North Carolina (2011).
House Bill 632 and Senate Bill 506. Retrieved
April 14, 2011 from http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/
sessions/2011/bills/house/pdf/h632v1.pdf and http://
www.ncga.state.nc.us/sessions/2011/bills/senate/pdf/
s506v1.pdf
Gottfredson, D.C. and Soulé, D. A. (2005). The Timing
of Property Crime, Violent Crime, and Substance Use
Among Juveniles. Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency, 24(1), 11-120.
Henrichson, C. and Levshin, V. (2011). Cost-Benefit
Analysis of Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction
in North Carolina. Vera Institue of Justice. Retrieved
online from http://www.vera.org/content/cost-benefit-
analysis-raising-age-juvenile-jurisdiction-north-
carolina
Jacob, B.A. and Lefgren, L. (2003) Are Idle hands the
Devil’s Worshop? Incapacitation, Concentration and
Juvenile Crime. The American Economic Review,
93(5), 1560-1577.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
(2010)
North Carolina Office of Management and Budget
(2010) July 1, 2008, County Age Groups Total
- Standard, Retrieved April 14, 2011 from http://
www.osbm.state.nc.us/demog/countytotals_
agegroup_2008.html
Yanich, D. (2005). Kids, Crime, and Local Television
News. Crime & Delinquency, 51(1) 103-132.
Volume 28, No. 1 15
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
SYSTEM STATS
A Publication of the
Governor’s Crime Commission
Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
(919) 733-4564
http://www.ncgccd.org
Scott E. Thomas
Chair, Governor’s Crime Commission
Gwendolyn Burrell
Executive Director
Dr. James Klopovic Richard A. Hayes Justin Davis
Criminal Justice Planner Senior Research Analyst Social/Clinical Research Specialist
Karen G. Jayson Yu Li Hsu
Social/Clinical Research Specialist Research Assistant
The Governor’s Crime Commission was established in 1977 by the North Carolina General Assembly under G.S. 143B-479. Its primary duty is “to be the chief advisory body to the Governor
and the Secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety for the development and implementation of criminal justice policy.” The Crime Commission is always open to comments
and suggestions from the public as well as criminal justice officials. Please contact us and let us know your thoughts and feelings on the information contained in this publication or on any
other criminal justice issue of concern to you.
Beverly Eaves Perdue
Governor
Scott E. Thomas, Chair
Governor’s Crime Commission
Secretary Reuben F. Young
Department of Crime Control & Public Safety
Dr. June Atkinson, Superintendent
Department of Public Instruction
Robin Baker
N.C. Victim Assistance Network
Chief Chris Blue
Chapel Hill Police Department
Chief Judge Athena Brooks
29B District Court
Secretary Lanier M. Cansler
Dept. of Health & Human Services
Steven Cogburn
Clerk of Superior Court, Buncombe County
Judge J. C. Cole
Superior Court Judge
Attorney General Roy Cooper
Department of Justice
Mayor James K. Festerman
City of Reidsville
Judge Carl Fox
Superior Court Judge
Dr. Catherine Mitchell-Fuentes
UNC Charlotte
Representative R. Phillip Haire
N.C. House of Representatives
Secretary Linda Wheeler Hayes
Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
Jean R. Irvin
Private Juvenile Justice Program
Dr. Robin Jenkins, Deputy Secretary
Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
David E. Jones, Deputy Secretary
Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
Senator Edward “Ed” Jones
North Carolina State Senate
Secretary Alvin W. Keller, Jr.
Department of Correction
Sheriff James L. Knight
Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
Robert Lewis, Director
Division of Prisons, DOC
Thomas Maher
N.C. Office of Indigent Defense Services
Jerry G. Monette
Craven County Sheriff’s Office
Chief Rodney Monroe
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
Katelyn Moore
Student Member
Timothy Moose, Director
Division of Community Corrections, DOC
Michael Page, Chair
Durham County Board of Commissioners
Judge Ali Paksoy
27B District Court
Chief Justice Sarah E. Parker
North Carolina Supreme Court
James W. Pierce, Jr.
Kids Making It
Sandra Lynn Reid
Elon University
Jennifer Roberts, Chair
Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners
Sharon Sadler
Hyde County Clerk of Superior Court
Captain J. Wayne Sears
Rocky Mount Police Department
Richard L. Shaffer
27B Prosecutorial District
Detective Crystal Lynn Sharpe
Graham Police Department
Judge John W. Smith, Director
Administrative Office of the Courts
Senator John J. Snow
North Carolina State Senate
Representative Michael H. Wray
N.C. House of Representatives
Commission Members as of September 30, 2011
16 SystemStats
An Examination of Juvenile Complaints, Arrests and Reported Offenses
North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission
1201 Front Street, Suite 200
Raleigh, NC 27609
The printing of this document was supported under grant number 2010-BJ-CX-K006, as awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department
of Justice. The opinions and findings presented in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U. S. Department of Justice. This document
was printed at a cost of $ 1,308.11 or $ 1.09 per copy for 1,200 copies. October 2011
Current and previous issues of SystemStats can be found online at www.ncgccd.org/sysstat.htm.